


Glamour

by ZXSpectrum



Series: 100 Themes Challenge (DAS) [14]
Category: The Witch's House
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2020-11-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:14:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27556684
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZXSpectrum/pseuds/ZXSpectrum
Summary: Viola's father wonders about the changes in his daughter's behavior.
Series: 100 Themes Challenge (DAS) [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/39068
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	Glamour

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote that months ago, when I was quite into the game again (thanks to some VTubers playing it). I'm not entirely certain why I haven't posted it until now, but I think part of it was that I wasn't sure how to continue this series, since I had no idea for the next prompt (not that it's really a good reason). I do now, though, and thought it's about time to post it, so here it is.

The hunter was quite concerned for his daughter, Viola. She wasn’t acting too strange, but there was something off about her. At first, he thought it was just his imagination, but other people noticed it too. Especially her friends and other children. She seemed to have become a bit clumsy when interacting with other people. She had become slightly ruder too. Whenever she went too far with something she said, she either brushed it off or apologized weakly. A few said that her apologies sounded a bit insincere. Strangely enough, she got more clingy at the same time. To her father, to her friends, to other people who were good to her. As if she was thirsting for their affection.

The change was small, really, but it was all quite a bit different from the well-behaved, good-natured girl he raised.

But it wasn’t surprising that she had changed. Sure enough, that odd behavior started after _that_ accursed day. The day Viola went out to visit her friend, who lived in a mansion at the edge of the forest. And stayed there for a very long time. When the hunter went searching for her, he found her chased by a monster that looked like the mutilated, bisected corpse of a girl. He had the presence of mind to shoot it before it could come closer, but it was a harrowing experience, nonetheless. God knows what it did to Viola’s mind.

She never really spoke of that day. Which wasn’t surprising, nobody would like to recount something as horrifying as this. Yet, he found himself wondering what exactly happened. Of course, he knew the stories about the witch in the forest. He tended to dismiss them but never ruled out the possibility that there was indeed something out there, so he was always worried when his daughter went there and made sure to tell her not to go too far in. But even though he had to realize that there was indeed truth to those stories, they didn’t fully explain the events.

What happened to Viola’s friend, whom she wanted to visit? What did Viola do the whole time she was missing? What was that thing that was chasing her and where did it come from?

When asked, she never gave him a clear answer. “Ellen is gone, don’t worry about her.” “Nobody lives in that mansion anymore.” “I don’t remember what happened to me.” “I don’t know what that monster was, it just suddenly appeared.” She was strangely dismissive of it all. It didn’t seem like she didn’t want to talk about it because it was a traumatic experience, but for… a different reason. Of course, she never said anything about that either.

At times, the hunter went out to go to the mansion himself, hoping to find some answers. But no matter how often he tried, he never arrived there for different reasons. Either he got lost or found his way blocked off. Even though he always took the same path.

When mentioned to her, Viola tried to dissuade him from going there again, saying that the witch is probably still there and apparently doesn’t want visitors, it’s too dangerous to go back there and there’s no reason to do so anyway. However, her protests were rather weak, as if she wasn’t all that bothered by him going there. As if she knew that his efforts would be fruitless anyway.

Possibly the strangest aspect of that all was how Viola didn’t seem to care about her friend Ellen anymore. It’s not surprising that she doesn’t want to talk about her after what happened, whatever that even was, but even when she did, she didn’t seem to be bothered by her being “gone”. There was no hint of sadness in her face or voice when she, or even he, mentioned her. That was very odd, since Viola loved her dearly. The hunter had never met Ellen himself, but he heard more than enough of her, as his daughter talked about her a lot, about what a sweet girl she was, how horrible it was that she had to live alone in a mansion due to her illness and that she would do anything for her.

And now, there was nothing. Viola didn’t seem to feel anything for her anymore and refused to talk about her. Just what was going on between her and Ellen? Actually, what was going on with Ellen in the first place? It was pretty strange, after all, a sick girl living by herself in a mansion in the woods. It never sounded right. But since their friendship was apparently good for Viola, he never said anything against it.

Was she killed by the witch? Was she eaten by the monster that chased Viola? Did she go missing and Viola herself had no idea what happened to her?

Or was that monster what remained of Ellen? Or was she the witch all along?

Or both?

Every possibility only raised more questions and none explained why Viola was so tight-lipped.

And, so the hunter thought, none of them really explained the change in Viola’s behavior either.

Recently, the mother of one of her friends talked to him about something her daughter told her: She had the feeling that Viola didn’t really care about her or any of her other friends. That she wanted unconditional love from them, yet her own displays of affection felt strangely cold. More importantly, though, she didn’t really dare to bring that up to her, even though she wasn’t one to mince words. And that’s because she was afraid.

She was afraid of Viola. And she couldn’t really say way.

What an odd thing, how could anyone be afraid of such a sweet girl? Yet, he couldn’t just brush that off. As a matter of fact, he himself had begun to feel somewhat uneasy around her. And just like with her friend, he had no real explanation for that.

It can’t go on like that. And he wasn’t willing to just let it rest. So, no matter how often he had to do it, he would try again to search the forest for that mansion or anything that could give him a clue. And no matter how often she brushed him off, he would question Viola again about the events that transpired that day.

One thing was clear: There was something wrong with his daughter.

And he had a hunch that Ellen was the key to it.


End file.
